Know what your shop made this month. Not in April.
Most pizza owners find out how the year went at tax time, when it's too late to change it. I check your numbers every month and tell you, in plain dollars, where the money's going. I do this for a handful of shops around Pittsburgh.
What Forte tracks and catches for a shop like yours — illustrative, not client results
What might a hidden slip be costing you?
Five gut-checks in one tool — the stress test, cheese creep, coupon math, menu math, and void drain. Slide in what your shop runs; rough is fine. The real figure comes from a free sit-down.
Five quick tools — tap each one
Slide in your numbers. Rough is fine. The reveal below shows what you keep at these numbers and what one point of food cost is worth.
That's a creep of 35¢ a pound.
A planning estimate, not your books. It uses round industry math to show direction and scale. The real numbers come from your register, statements, and POS.
This is what you get from me every month
Every month you get two things: your financials — a clean P&L and balance sheet — and a Financial Health Review that reads your 5 key numbers back to you in plain dollars. Below is a portion of that Review for XYZ Pizza — a made-up company and numbers, laid out the way yours would be. Want the whole thing? Get the full XYZ sample, free and I'll email it over. Yours stay between us.
01 Clean monthly statements
P&L and balance sheet, closed and current — same date every month, so you're never guessing off numbers from three months ago.
02 Your 5 numbers, checked
Prime cost, food, labor, channel mix, and what you keep — delivered monthly, with the target next to each.
03 A note on what changed
Plain language: what moved this month, what it cost you in dollars, and the one thing worth fixing next.
04 A call when it matters
When something's slipping, I call. You run the shop — I keep an eye on the money and flag it early.
XYZ Pizza Company
Pittsburgh, PA · Carryout & dine-in · Illustrative sample
Prepared by ForteYours would read like this.
On the left is a piece of a sample Financial Health Review — XYZ Pizza, a shop I made up so I'm not showing anyone's real books. The full Review runs longer; this is the part that shows how it reads. Yours would use your own numbers, in this same plain-dollar format.
- Your five numbers, checked. Prime cost, channel mix, what you keep — each against its target, so you know at a glance what's healthy and what's slipping.
- A plain-English read. Not a data dump — the one or two things worth fixing, with a dollar figure on each.
- Built on real statements. The P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow behind it tie out to the penny. That's how you know the numbers are trustworthy.
“Strong year — sales up 9%, and with no delivery apps skimming the top you keep more of every dollar than most shops. But food and labor together are running about 66 cents on the dollar, a touch over the line, and catering is barely tracked. Tighten those, build the catering side, and cost out the menu, and there's roughly $36K a year on the table. First step: get the numbers current and closed every month.”
See the three statements behind it›
Get the full XYZ sample — free, emailed to you.
The complete Review for XYZ (my made-up demo shop), so you can see the whole format before we ever talk. Your own Review — on your real books — is the paid Financial Health Review. No call required to get the sample.
Three levels of help. You pick how far it goes.
Every shop gets the same three levels; the price follows your size and volume, not a big-firm sticker. I quote it after the review — and nobody pays for help they didn't ask for. The review is a snapshot; the leaks it finds grow back. Watching them monthly is the actual job.
Essentials
Confidence the numbers are accurate and current. The solid foundation everything else sits on.
- Clean monthly statements — P&L and balance sheet
- Your 5 numbers checked & delivered monthly
- A note on what changed — same date every month
Standard
Essentials tells you what happened. Standard shows what it means — and what it's costing you. On paper, in your inbox. No meetings.
- Monthly statements — P&L and balance sheet
- Your 5 numbers, delivered monthly
- A note on what changed, same date every month
- The Shop Report — the $750 review, run every month: benchmarks, trends, every leak with a dollar figure on it
- The Stress Test, for real — the free tool runs on averages; this one runs on your register, every month
- The Channel Breakdown — what dine-in, carryout, delivery, and catering each really make you, plus any owner-requested reports
Controller
Standard reads your numbers. Controller watches the whole money side of your shop every month — the vendors, the renewals, the fees, the payroll — and catches what's slipping before it costs you. The stuff a busy owner has no time to chase.
- Everything in Standard, plus:
- Rising-cost watch — I read the bills every month and flag what jumped: supplier hikes, processing-fee creep, and the charge that doesn't match what you agreed to.
- No-surprise renewals — insurance, licenses, the POS contract, the linen service — flagged before they auto-renew at a higher rate, not after you've paid it.
- Payroll, reconciled — checked against your provider every month, so errors get caught before they become a mess
- A heads-up on tight weeks — I'll tell you when a lean week is coming, so payroll and the cheese bill never catch you short
- First call when a number moves — something's off, I call you. You run the shop; I keep watch on the money.
Not everything's monthly.
Some things aren't monthly — they come up when they come up. Because I'm already in your books, I can turn these around fast, priced per job.
Any tier can add these. Already on monthly? They're faster and cheaper — the books are already current.
Quoted to your shop, after the review · Month-to-month, cancel anytime · No contract, no surprises
“My promise to you: the first call is free, and you only pay once we both agree it's worth doing. Nothing starts until you say go.”
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Hi, I'm Mark Pagano. I work the numbers for pizza shops.
I spent 30+ years as a corporate controller — the person who runs the numbers inside larger companies. The businesses I could help most, and enjoyed most, were the local pizza places. Margins are tight, the cash moves fast, and the gap between a good year and a hard one usually comes down to five numbers nobody's watching.
I'm not a bookkeeper, a big firm, or an app. You get a 30-year controller who reads your numbers alongside your CPA and tells you the truth in plain English. I take on a handful of shops at a time, so you get real attention.
How this works
Start with a free call. If it's a fit, the $750 review shows you exactly where you stand. Books behind or a mess? Cleanup comes first — quoted flat before I start. Most owners go monthly from there.
The intro call
A quick, no-pressure call to see if Forte's a fit for your shop. I'll point you to the one or two numbers worth a closer look. No charge, no obligation.
Most shops start hereThe Financial Health Review
A fixed-price look at your existing numbers. You get a three-statement snapshot, your five KPIs benchmarked against other shops, and the top five findings, each with a real dollar figure on it. You get the written report and a walkthrough of it, typically within two weeks of having your complete numbers.
A monthly plan
Ongoing clarity at the level you want — from clean statements and your 5 numbers to the monthly Shop Report and a plan for the year ahead. Month-to-month. Cancel anytime.
The $750 review is credited toward your first month if you go monthly within 30 days.
Straight answers, no fine print
If your question isn't here, call or email. You'll get me, not a phone tree.
Not exactly — I'm the numbers guy above the bookkeeping. I read your numbers, benchmark them, and tell you what they mean and what to do about it. And if your books are behind or a mess, I'll clean them up and get them current first. I work alongside your CPA — taxes stay with them.
The first call is free. The one paid number on this site is the Financial Health Review: $750 flat, and it credits back toward your first month if you go monthly within 30 days. Monthly plans come in three levels (Essentials, Standard, Controller). Essentials — the entry level — typically runs $450 to $1,250/month depending on your shop's size, with smaller shops around $450. Standard and Controller run higher, scoped to what you need. I quote your exact number after the review.
Essentials is “are my numbers right?”: accuracy and your 5 numbers each month. Standard adds “what do they tell me?”: a read on what's working and where you're leaking. Controller is “keep an eye on the money side for me”: it watches the whole money side every month — vendors, renewals, fees, payroll — and catches what’s slipping before it costs you. You pick the level; I quote it after the review.
No. I review your existing numbers read-only. There's nothing new for you to learn and I don't touch your system. If you keep books in QuickBooks Online or Xero, I'll work from those. If your setup's different, we'll talk it through on the call.
Not at all. I work from the records you keep and give you a clean monthly read — your prime cost, your labor, where your sales come from, and what you keep. I'm not here to sell you a POS system and I'm not changing how you operate. You stay in control of what's on the books; I just make sure you can see the numbers that decide your month.
Not at all — messy books are half the reason owners call me. I do the cleanup myself: we get your books current, reconciled, and trustworthy first, with a flat quote before I start. A monthly plan keeps them clear from there.
Your books closed and tied out, then your monthly statements — P&L and balance sheet — your 5 numbers, and a note from me on what changed and what to watch, the same date every month. On paper, in your inbox, no meetings. Standard and Controller add the Shop Report on top: benchmarks, trends, and every leak with a dollar figure on it. See the Sample section above for what it looks like.
No. It's month-to-month, cancel anytime. I'd rather earn it every month than trap you in a contract.
No. That's your CPA's job, and I work hand-in-hand with whoever files your return. I keep your numbers clear and current so tax time is easy. No CPA yet? I can point you to one who knows restaurants.
I'm local to Greater Pittsburgh and I'll come to your shop. After that, most of it runs by email and the occasional call or visit, whatever's easiest. You'll always deal with me directly.
Find out what your shop is really making.
Book a free call. We'll see if Forte's a fit and what your numbers might be telling you. It's free, and there's no pitch.
You'll always reach me, not a front desk. If I miss you, I call back same day.
I'll be in touch within one business day to set up your free call.
Not ready to talk? Grab the free 5 Numbers guide.
A one-pager you can print and stick by the register. No call required.